Oliver & Felicity - There was no choice to make
by LumiMoher
Summary: It was no secret that Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak came from completely different worlds; Oliver was the billionaire playboy/arrow-shooting vigulante, Felicity was the smart, babbling IT-girl. None of them knew how their future together looked. Maybe they were destined to be together as crime-fighting partners in their self-named Team Arrow or maybe they were meant for more...
1. Prologue: My Frozen Lake

_Author's note:_

*takes deep breath* Well, hello! This little fanfic is my very first attempt to write an _Olicity_-themed fanfic and I'm really nervous how it will turn out. I'm writing this as I get ideas & inspiration, so who knows how long it will take until it's actually finished.

The _Frozen Lake_ quotes that are found here in **bold**, is from _NCIS: Los Angeles_, episode 10 (season 5) if I'm not mistaking. I really fell for the feeling it brought out in the episode and I decided to use it here in the first part of my story - let's call it a prologue/introduction to the story.

Feel free to leave feedback! Hope you enjoy my writing!

* * *

**I'm standing on my frozen lake.**

It was no secret that Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak came from completely different worlds; Oliver was the billionaire playboy who had taken over Queen Consolidated with hope to restore the Queen name to its former glory, he was every women´s dream and all the men either wanted to be him or they hated his guts.

While Felicity was only a middle-class person, struggling with everyday issues and working at the IT-department at QC. She wasn´t the type of girl Oliver would choose, as she had been told her whole life...

Although, these facts were only scratching the surface.

**Your frozen lake is the name for what you want the most in the world and you want it, you want it so bad that you'll do anything to get it.**

**And your heart takes over.**

Oliver had been trapped on an island for five years, after being shipwrecked and seeing his father kill himself. He had been tortured in the most horrific ways and he had gone to hell and back before he finally could find his back home to Starling City. There he had put on a facade; acting like the charming billionaire playboy he was by day, and by night he turned into a completely different person, fighting the low-lifes of Starling City with the help of a bow and arrow.

He had been forced to witness part of Starling crumble to the ground, a horrific plan made up by Malcolm Merlin and Moira Queen, Oliver´s mother. This was the one thing of Oliver's crucade he couldn´t prevent and he felt like he had failed his father. As it was by the promise of his father that Oliver had survived on the island, made his way back and started fighting the criminals of Starling City.

Felicity had also gone through some tough times, but it wasn´t something she was willing to tell anyone – yet if ever. And she was helping Oliver in his crucade to save his city with her high-tec IT-skills – and also in his facade as the CEO of Queen Consolidated, only there she was his executive assistant, which had got her in trouble, not to mention the rumours that were circling around about the two of them. These had surfaced the second Isabel Rochev entered the company in her failed (first, sure she had a devilish plan coming down her sleeve) attempt to take over QC.

Felicity looked to Oliver for comfort, she found him attractive - but then again, who in their right mind wouldn´t think he was drop dead gorgeous, with those piercing baby blue eyes of his, which could melt even the coldest icy heart. His smile was also famous.

And Oliver had come to Felicity´s rescue more than once, the last time when she had been taken hostage by The Count and Oliver had killed him with three arrows. This had been his first kill in over five months, since The Undertaking and Tommy´s death. To honor Tommy´s memory, Oliver hadn´t killed since then.

Felicity had known by the look on Oliver´s face after he´d shot the arrows, that he was hurting, like he had failed Tommy and she had apologized to him later than evening, apologized for being the one who forced Oliver to kill again. Oliver had then taken her hand in his, looked at her intensely and said '_He had you and he was going to hurt you_' and then he had lower his voice_, 'There was no choice to make_'.

**But because of that, it destroys you in the end.**

**It's right there, just sitting in the middle of this frozen lake, and you think you're fast enough to go out and grab it before the ice cracks.**

Oliver might look to Felicity as only a good friend, he was still too damaged after everything that happened on the island, with the undertaking that took his best friend's life and for which Oliver felt guilty to see her as something more. Or maybe he did have feelings for her but he hadn´t admitted this to himself yet.

He had been involved with several women...

Helena, even though that had turned out to be a total disaster and Oliver´s feelings had taken over his better judgement;

McKenna, but she had moved away to Coast City after being injured (by Helena, ironically enough) on a job and that had broken Oliver´s heart as he really had cared for her;

and last but most definatley not least – Laurel. The relationship with Laurel was more complicated then ten ways to Sunday, and they had been doing this on/off thing for a while before finally getting together in the end, but the aftermath of Tommy´s tragic death had been too painful for them both.

**And what you don't realize is you're already standing on the ice and it's falling apart around you.**

Neither Oliver or Felicity knew how their paths would cross in the end. Maybe they were destined to be together as crime-fighting partners in their self-named _Team Arrow_... or maybe the stars had something totally of the opposite planned for them...


	2. Chapter 1

As Felicity was walking, no, tripping... due to her high heels, not that she wasn´t used to wearing high heels, these particular ones happened to be extremely high heeled and uncomfortable for walking a longer while... at the snowfilled streets on her way to Fairmount Hotel, this ridiculously posh and over-the-top expensive hotel where tonight´s gala, one of the most exclusive ones, would be held. She would be waiting at Oliver on the corner of the Fairmount Hotel.

"I wonder why he couldn´t had picked me up directly from my appartment... or atleast let me go inside somewhere to wait for him..." Felicity mumbled. "I don´t see anyone tripping around in the snow, dressed in haute courture..."

Felicity hadn´t believed her eyes when Oliver had told her that they would go together, both as representives for Queens Consolidated _('So you couldn´t have taken Isabel instead, wouldn´t look so... out of place_' Felicity had said, trying to talk Oliver out of the plan but he had only given her one of his mesmerizing gazes and that had been the end of the discussion + Isabel was appearently out of town, she had gone to Shanghai to visit the Asian head quarters of Queen Consolidated) but also as Team Arrow. Not that they were looking into something particular, not what Felicity knew of, Oliver had only stated Felicity´s presence at the gala would be needed.

Felicity felt like she had the rights to be worried, no one would in ther right mind think she had been invited to one of the most exclusive galas in Starling City as nothing else as the date of Oliver Queen, especially since the majority of the guests would be the absolute elite of Starling – for instance, like Oliver Queen.

Felicity thought she had managed pretty awesome with her outfit for the evening – a beautiful dress with a high-low hemline, lace-structured with rose corded lace panels and beautiful embroided diamonds on full skirt with net and tulle under layers from Oscar de la Renta. She had paired this with Gemfield's emerald stud earrings, a glittering diamond necklace from Bulgari and Manolo Blahnik 5" heels. She was starting to regret the height of the heels now, as she learned now by continuasly walking in the snow.

She had done her own make up, nothing over the top and she had got her hair done (by a hair stylist at a salon near QC) into a pretty chignon updo, with deep side part and a couple of wispy pieces to make it all a bit more modern and flirty. The flirty idea had been the hair stylist´s idea, as Felicity didn´t see tonight as anything else than a work function. A very... luxurious, top notch work function.

When Felicity had been in touch with the respective labels putting her outfit together, she of course hadn´t mentioned that _she _was the one who would be wearing it or that she was an executive assistant, she had only stated that she had an important client who was attending the event at the Fairmont in Starling City and she needed to look over the top fabolous – because her date for the evening would be Oliver Queen.

She had been afraid to look on the price tags for everything, as she with her own salary could hardly afford it as she knew that they all were top notch brands... Good think she had Oliver then, he had promised to take care of the post, whatever it would be.

This sounded weird when she thought about it and she shook her head. "This is a bad idea, really bad idea..." Felicity mumbled to herself as she continued tripping towards the hotel.

It was a bad idea _overall_ for Felicity to be turning up at the event _at all_ because... What would people think? Sure, they might accept her as Oliver Queen´s date for the evening but no one would believe that they were... _together_. There would be media representives at the event for sure, paparazzis most certainly... What would people think when they saw Felicity at a luxurious event like the Fairmont gala?

"What have you got yourself into?" Felicity mumbled as she now reached the corner away from the Fairmount Hotel, shivering from the cold and envying the guests who arrived straight to the entrance by limousine, one looking more over the top than the other. If it was an event for the Starling Elite, nothing was too much - appearently.

Oliver had arrived to the Fairmount Hotel and was now making his way to the corner where Felicity was waiting for him. As he was slowly making his way through the crowd, he heard a familiar voice calling for him:

"Oliver, hi!"

He stopped and turned around to stand face to face with some random-looking guy and... Laurel. She looked different from what he was used to, she was so dressed up now, with an embroidered halter gown and a thick, glittering neckless around her neck.

"Laurel." Oliver smiled and leaned in to give her a friendly peek on the cheek – something that Laurel´s date didn´t approve off, judging by the look on his face that Oliver could clearly see in the corner of his eye. He paid no attention to him.

"Are you here alone?" Laurel asked, not being able to hide her surprise to see Oliver _alone _at an event, especially an event like this.

"I´m just about to go meet my date, actually." Oliver said. "I don´t want to keep her waiting so... Have a good night." and with that he walked away, leaving Laurel quite stunned that he had been so short. She couldn´t wait to see who his date was, she had to be something _very _special to have that kind of impact on Oliver Queen.

Oliver had now reached the corner where Felicity would be waiting. He looked around to see where she was and his jaw almost dropped to the ground when he saw her slowly walking towards him. She noticed him and gave him a light wave and a smile. Oliver could now see she had trouble walking, so he went to meet her and took her hand.

"Felicity, you look..." He started, not really sure what to say. She looked beautiful, yes, and so different from how he was used to see her. "You look beautiful."

"Good evening, Oliver." Felicity said and smiled. "You cleaned up pretty good yourself." She looked him up and down, noticing the black suit. "Black wins over green tonight, huh?"

Oliver smiled at her failed attempt to make an Arrow-joke. "Tommy Hilfiger doesn´t have vigulante suits as part of their... expertise." He took her hand and placed it under his arm. "Ready to make an entrance?"

Felicity looked back at him, taking a deep breath. "Yes. Lead the way, Mr Queen." As they were about to start walking, she added quickly: "Could we take it slow, though? 5" heels and winter don´t really go together..."

Oliver sighed and smirked at Felicity.

At the penthouse on the very top of the Fairmount Hotel, someone was looking down on the guests making their entrance, sweeping over the crowd with a telescope-like binocular - until one face stood out. A second later the same crowd and the familiar face showed up on gigantic TV screens.

A knock on the door and a man stepped in. His eyes immediatly flew to the computer screens and he frowned. Like the character standing in front of him, he had also noticed the face, the one he knew from several surveillance fotage, photos and old movie tapes that he had studied for countless hours.

"Well?"

"Everything is in order. We will be ready soon." His eyes went to the TV screen again. "Is that...?"

"It seems that way, yes." One click was heard and a closer look on the face was seen. "It looks like an old friend has decided to join us." Another click and the footage on the TV screens went back to following the crowd.

"Give me reports by the hour on how it´s progressing. And keep a special eye on our friend here, I want to know everything that happens."


	3. Chapter 2

"**Tell a man he is brave, and you help him to become so**"

_Thomas Carlyle_

_When Felicity was seven years old, her parents Matt and Elena split up and Matt left. At the time, Felicity was devastated that her father left but now, thinking back, she understood why – her parents hadn't been happy in very long time and after many years of fighting, tears and heartbreak, Elena couldn't take it any longer, so she gave Matt some sort of ultimatum (Felicity never found out what it was, as Elena didn't speak much of Matt after the divorce) and he left._

_After the divorce, which surprisingly well without any fighting, Felicity didn't see Matt very often, besides on birthdays and holidays. Matt was working a lot and Elena didn't want him in the house much. Felicity had no idea why that was, her mother had grown to be very distant and cold towards Matt since the divorce._

_When Felicity was nine, Matt left Starling City in favour to Poland where he'd got a new job. He visited Starling atleast once a year until Felicity was 13. Matt also asked Felicity and Elena to come to Poland for a visit but Elena refused. Nevertheless the few times they got to see eachother, Matt wanted to have a good relationship with Felicity, so while in Poland he sent post cards now and then from Australia, birthday cards and a few letters. In one of the letters, Felicity learned that Matt had fallen in love a woman named Rebekah. They eventually got married and from what Felicity had learned in the letters Matt wrote her, he was happy with Rebekah and their family that grew as time went by._

_For Felicity's 15th birthday, Matt wanted her to come to Poland on her own, so she could celebrate her birthday with Matt, Rebekah and their two small children. Felicity was so excited about this but Elena refused to let her go and after that Felicity's conctact with her father decreased – until she didn't hear from him at all. The last time Felicity heard from her father, she was 18 and he sent her a short 'My condolences'-card. Felicity threw the card in the trash without opening it._

Felicity had no idea why she was thinking about her parents and childhood _right now_, when she was enjoying herself at the most fabolous event she had ever been to – and probably the last event ever of this sort she would be able to attend – and she was thinking about the two people in her life who only had given her nothing but misery during the past years of her life.

She was sitting at the table sipping on the most amazing champagne - this was her third glass already, and before the champagne it had been wine so she was starting to feel a little bit tipsy.

She and Oliver had been enjoying the most delicious six-coursed dinner: (1) pan-fried foie gras in a Marsala reduction with brown sugar baked apple (2) beef filet tenderloin carpaccio with caper berries, herbs and Parmegiano (3) a mixed greens salad with avocado, strawberries, watermelon, red seedless grapes and homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing (4) homemade ravioli with the filling of the day, paparadelle pasta with Alba Piemonte-region white truffle (5) Spanish-style grilled lamb chops with roasted herb potatoes, sauteed paiche filet with purple potatoes, palm hearts and lucuma saffron foam (6) Swiss hazelnut chocolate torte.

Fairmont Hotel... She couldn't believe she was here! It was so fantastic and amazing to be at an event like this, surrounded with people that either looked like supermodels or as if they had come from Hollywood. She had imagined how it could look in her mind, but the reality was so much better. It was magical!

"I must be dreaming..." She thought.

She looked around and saw Oliver. He was having a discussion with a couple of suit-and-tie-dressed men. Felicity made a guess they were talking about business, Oliver was after all the co-CEO of the most talked about company in Starling. Since Felicity knew Oliver's alter-ego as the arrow-shooting vigulante, it was a bit... odd seeing him like this – but it suited him. He looked relaxed and, for once, genuainly happy. Seeing him calm, happy and satisfied made _her _calm, and satisfied. It had been a completly other story when they had arrived, walking down the _red carpet_.

When they first had entered the Fairmont Hotel, everyone's looks had been on them: the men had looked at Felicity like she was some supermodel, the women had been mesmerized by Oliver but shot evil looks at her and the camera flashes had gone off like mad, making Felicity's head spin a little. Felicity had unknowingly tightened her grip around Oliver's arm so hard from nervousity, that he had flinched with pain.

"Felicity!..." He had whispered. "Mind letting go of my arm a bit, please?"

"Sorry." She had apologized. "I just... This is _totally _out of my comfort zone..."

"Don't worry, Felicity, you will do fine-"

"Yeah, until I trip because of these ridicolous high heels, rip my dress that was over the top over-priced or spill expensive wine on some society elite..."

Oliver noticed that Felicity was clearly nervous, no, she was freaking out. Her hands were shaking, her nails were moments from cutting through his arm, she kept biting her lip and she looked pale. When they had walked down the red carpet and had stepped into the huge ball room, he then stopped her, took her aside and looked at her.

"Felicity... Hey. You _will_ do fine. You're the most beutiful woman here tonight." He took her hand, stroaking it gently with his thumb. "I will be by your side the whole evening, I promise."

He then had leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. He then looked at her, seeing she was calmer already.

Felicity smiled to herself. Oliver was great on calming her down, it worked for most of the time. Although, she wasn't sure what that last kiss on the cheek had been about... She wasn't sure what to think of it, she had felt a tiny tingle as his lips had touched her cheek but... She shook her head, no, she wouldn't go _there_.

She looked Oliver's way again, he was still chatting to the suit-and-ties. All of a sudden, he looked her way, smiled and it cut her a little of guard. She smiled back and now Oliver seemed to excuse himself from the suit-and-ties and came her way again.

"Hey. Sorry for leaving you, these guys over there are... possible investors for QC." He grinned. "Also, if Isabel found out I didn't talk to a single one of the investors and acted as the QC representive I am... Well, there would be blood. How are you doing?"

"I'm perfect..." Felicity smiled. "Really, Oliver, thank you for taking me tonight. Although, I think that the champagne is getting to me." She let out a tiny giggle, which made Oliver smirk.

"My pleasure, I'm happy you're enjoying yourself." He sat down next to Felicity. "You may want to be careful with the champagne and drink water instead."

"Yes. We wouldn't want me to make a complete fool out of me, would we now?" Felicity said.

"No. I simply want you to be steady on your feet so we can go up on the dance floor. I would like to dance with you, you know."

Felicity frowned. Where the hell did this come from? "Oh... Okay."


	4. Chapter 3

"**Si l'amour n'est qu'une illusion, alors qu'est-ce que la réalité?"**

_Unknown_

They've been sitting around the table for a while, when Oliver stood up and reached out for Felicity's hand. "Ms Smoak, may I have this dance?" He asked and looked at her with those baby blue eyes that had floored so many women before.

Felicity met his gaze and smiled lightly, as those baby eyes were really hard to resist. She took his hand and slowly got up – again, she had 5" inch heels and she was still tipsy from the wine and champagne – and her leg had fallen asleep.

Also, she was truly scared to be seen on the dance floor with Oliver, only because she knew they would have all the eyes on them and everybody would start making up different stories in their heads because... Well, they were insanely rich and they could do that. Also, every single media personality were there and what better headline, first page cover story for the next day than hinting that Oliver Queen had a new love interest?

And then there was the fact that Felicity got incredibly clumsy and two-left-feet'ish when she got nervous and she had told Oliver this (Y_eah, until I trip because of these ridicolous high heels, rip my dress that was over the top over-priced or spill expensive wine on some society elite_.). Yet, he still didn't seem to care, he still had asked her to dance. Felicity closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mumbling something to herself.

"Felicity, are you okay?" Oliver asked, waking her from her daydreaming worries.

"Yes, yes, I'm good..." Felicity assured him. "Let's go sway, Mr Queen!"

Oliver looked at her, smirked while shaking his head. "Lead the way, Ms Smoak."

As Oliver and Felicity were finishing their first dance, the band that was playing was interrupted by the host.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you're enjoying your evening. It's truly my honour to be able to host the musical part of this amazing gala at the legendary Fairmont Hotel." The audience clapped and then he continued, "It's an ever bigger honour for me to present the special musical guest for tonight. You'll be blown away by this young man, I assure you. He's come all the way from Ireland to perform for us tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome... Marcus Feehily!"

"Did he say Ireland?" Felicity whispered to Oliver, who nodded. "Oh my God, I love Ireland..."

Oliver smiled at her, not surprised that Felicity, with her one-of-a-kind personality, was interested with one of the few countries with the strongest belief in folklore and mythical legends in the world.

A man dressed in black walked in on stage, waving at the audience. He shook the host's hand and took the microphone and started talking, with a thick Irish accent that made Felicity all excited. After a bit of presentation, a slow melody started playing and soon he started singing.

_I'm too tired to go to bed_

_I'm too wired for anything except_

_The crossfire in my head_

_It's been a long night_

_Cos I took all I can take_

_Til the walls shook and the windows break_

_I want to phone you but it's far too late_

_It's been a long night_

"Wow, this song is really good... And the singer is really handsome, like 1940s Hollywood-handsome..." Felicity said quietly. "Although, the melody is kind of... melodramatic and the lyric is really..."

"Felicity..." Oliver smiled as he interrupted her. "Is this the champagne talking or is it you being... _you_?"

Felicity giggled. "I'm sorry, I'm babbling again..." She looked around, happened to see Laurel standing in the distance and back at Oliver. "I see Laurel is here. Have you talked with her?"

Oliver looked at her, and his face expression told her she had overstepped a line, but he finally replied.

"I did, shortly, before I went to meet you. She's here with someone, who obviously didn't like me."

"Oh." Felicity looked at him, not sure if she could take the topic on Laurel further, or if she should let it go – for her own good. "I'm sorry you two couldn't work things out after you got back from the..." She looked up at Oliver and saw he was staring at her, his angry stare which creeped her out. She nodded quickly. "Sorry, I won't go there."

"It was over before I left, actually..." Oliver muttered and as he saw Felicity was about to ask more about it, he added, "Because of what happened with Tommy." He paused. "That's in the past now, we're still friends."

Felicity nodded and decided she wouldn't ask any more about Laurel, it was obviously not a line she would or should be crossing with Oliver anytime soon. Then again, why would she had the right to? She worked for him, she was his employee and him bringing her to the Fairmont Gala was simply, strictly work business.

_So talk me down_

_Talk me down_

_Talk me down_

_Talk me down_

_Cos we fought an endless war_

_Til we forgot what we were fighting for_

_Now we can't stop_

_But we can withdraw_

_In the long night_

Felicity closed her eyes and without realizing it, she put her arms around Oliver's neck and she didn't either feel Oliver's hand going down her waist or him pulling her closer.

_So talk me down_

_Talk me down_

_Talk me down_

_Talk me down_

Oliver looked at Felicity as they slowly were swaying around the dance floor. The song was really slow so they didn't have to move much. She still had her eyes closed and her arms around his neck. This was the closest they had been, if not counting the moment on the island when Felicity had stepped on the land mine and Oliver had saved her, swinging from a tree. He looked around the room and saw that quite a few people were looking at them, at _him_. Or maybe they were looking at Felicity, because she looked indeed beautiful tonight. Her dress was phenomenal, the most exclusive haute couture if he had understood it right.

_The light flashed and I thought I'd died_

_My life passed before my eyes_

_It went too fast for the love I feel_

_Inside_

This part of the song somehow spoke to Oliver and let him think about the time he had spent on the island all those years. There were moments when he'd dreamed about his life, both how it had been before and how it might look in the future. Laurel was always playing a mayor role in both sides of the dreams and Oliver accepted that, as she had been such a huge part of his life. But they tried being together but it hadn't worked out. Laurel had been mourning Tommy's death, Oliver had too, and he blaimed himself for not being able to save his best friend.

Another dream he had had while staying on the island the second time, after the tragedies coming from the undertaking, came to mind as well, Oliver realized... Sometimes he had dreamed about a figure that had been trying to tell him something, and the figure had always been surrounded by this friendly, calm light. Oliver had never figured out what it meant and when he returned to Starling City, the dream had disappeared.

_So talk me down_

_Talk me down_

_Talk me down_

_Talk me down_

_Down, down, down_

_Lay your head near mine_

_Tell me that it's all fine_

_Love me while there's still time_

_It's been a long night_

When the song had finished, Felicity came back from her trance as she opened her eyes and she noticed that she was standing really close to Oliver, her hands around his neck and his hands on her lower back. She was startled by it and stepped back so quickly she almost fell back (again, 5" heels), but Oliver saved her.

"Felicity, careful...!" He said, grabbing her wrists firmly, pulling her up.

"Oh!..." Felicity looked at him. "Thank you. I told you I would be-"

"You were perfect." Oliver interrupted, he immediatly realized what he said, by the look on Felicity's face and he stepped back. "Are you okay, should we go back to our table?"

"No, no..." Felicity said. "I'd like some fresh air though. It's really hot in here."

"All right then." Oliver said. "There's a balcony upstairs, we could go there."

Felicity nodded, smiling. "Sounds like a plan."

Oliver smiled back, giving her his arm so she could support on him.

Back at the penthouse, the mysterious character was looking over the screens when there was a knock on the door and the same from before stepped in together with a woman.

"Is everything in order?" The mystery man asked.

"Only moments away now, sir." The woman replied. "We're waiting for the final reports and we'll be ready."

"Excellent. Send up the reports to me when they're done, so I can have a look at them. This will have to go perfectly as planned or there will be consequences..." The mystery man turned around and faced the two. _"Fatal consequences_. What about our special friend, what have you learned?"

"She's here together with someone, sir." The man replied. "And not just anyone. She's here with Oliver Queen."

"Oliver Queen, you say...?" The mysery character turned to the large screens again. "It seems like she's working her way up in the world." There were a few clicks heard and the cameras zoomed in on a face. "It seems like we'll be meeting sooner than I thought, _Zyta_..."


	5. Chapter 4

"**It is in our nature to travel into our past, hoping thereby to illuminate the darkness that bedevils the present."**

- _Farley Mowat_

Oliver and Felicity had finished the dance in the ball room and were now on their way up to the balcony on the second floor.

"Thank you for the dance, Oliver, it was lovely. I could've never seen you handling the dance floor."

Oliver looked at her. "My mother enrolled me and Tommy in dance classes when we were 14."

Felicity looked at him, surprise. "Really? That's an image I would've liked to see, teen-ager Oliver Queen on the dance floor..."

"Actually, we skipped most of the classes." Oliver stated. "I learned it from Lau-" He immediatly stopped, looking away from Felicity, who realized what he had been about to say. "Oh."

Felicity cursed in her mind, why was she still getting affected by Oliver's reaction to whenever Laurel was brought up. She acted like a jelous girlfriend, only she wasn't!

"Let's get you to that balcony." Oliver smiled, putting his hand on Felicity's waist as he lead her up the stairs.

The mystery man in the penthouse was watching the video screens even more closely and more thoroughly now. He had been surprised at first to see her at event as the one being held tonight at the Fairmont Hotel, then he had been stunned by how beautiful she had turned out to be, she was the spitting image of her mother. When thinking of the poor fate his ex-wife Elena had suffered, he felt bad. But then on the other hand, she had stoppe him from seeing his child, a child that had learned to hate her own father. He had got that proven to her when all the letters he had sent, had come back un-opened.

Even bigger had the surprise been, when he had seen her together with Oliver Queen, the CEO of Queen Consolidated and son to the late Robert Queen and Moira Queen, who had been released from all charges at the trial for her co-operation with Malmcolm Merlin on the undertaking that had destoyed half the city. That he found odd, but he also knew that Moira Queen had connections every where

That Oliver Queen wasn't all he made out to be was clear - he had been watching the footage of him from tonight - he only needed to find out what it was and how she was involved in it. He had to take caution though, as he couldn't risk anyone finding out that he was in Starling City or what his relation to her was. His plans had been changed the second he found out she still lived in Starling and who she worked for. Back in Poland, they hadn't been satisfied but he had been firm with that the original plan had to be put on hold for a while, so that he could keep an eye out on her. She was his daughter after all.

There was a knock on the door and Ksenia, his partner, entered. Ksenia, who also had a troubled past, was the only one who knew the truth about his past life; that he was originally from Starling and that he had a daughter here, who he had been forced to walk out on. He had told Ksenia things he hadn't even told his wife back in Poland. But he had his reasons to keep it a secret from his family. If the wrong people found out, he could be putting the lives of his wife and children at risk. That his real name was Matt Forwood, not Misha Smolak and that his daughter was actually Felicity.

"Are you still watching that?" Ksenia sighed. "Misha, you shouldn't be torturing yourself..." She walked up to him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "You can't make yourself known to her either way. It's too dangerous, for all of us. Especially if she's together with Oliver Queen, especially if the rumours about him are true... We're finished if he-" She paused, looking at the screens for a bit and then she pulled out a folder. "I have the final reports here, the numbers look good. You should look over them, of course, but I would let the Warsaw office know that we have the green light."

"Right." He took the folder and opened it. "I will look at the reports tomorrow, let them know in Warsaw I will be in touch with them. You can tell the team we're done for tonight, you can return to your rooms." He looked at the screens again. "I will stay here a while longer."

"Do as you want, _kochanie_." Ksenia said. "I will leave my door open for you."

"Good night, Ksenia." Matt looked up at her. "I'll see you in the morning."

He heard Ksenia sigh, the door opening and closing. Turning back to the screens, he kept focusing on her face, watching her smile and looking genuinly happy. He also noticed the way she was looking at Oliver Queen, how they seemed to be in their very own little world while being on the dance floor, how protective Queen seemed to be about her and how often his hand touched her arm. In the footage he was watching now, they were walking out to the balcony, Oliver placing his hand on Felicity's back. He then realized something.

"Well, well... _Zyta_, it seems like I've found a way to get in touch with you."

Oliver and Felicity were now standing on the balcony. As cold as the night was, the sky was also filled with stars, making the night feel even more magical. Especially for Felicity. She kept looking up at the sky, when all of a sudden she shivered from the cold breeze.

Oliver reacted immediatly. "Are you cold?" He started taking his jacket off.

"No, I'm fine." Felicity said, even though she could feel the ice cold wind on her skin, making her shiver even more. She watched Oliver taking his jacket off. "Oliver, you don't have to do th-"

She didn't have time to say anymore, until his black jacket was covering her bare shoulders. Felicity looked at him, smiling. "Thank you."

"Better?" He asked.

"Yes." Felicity nodded. She turned to looking at the night sky again. "It's so beautiful out here tonight, I've never seen the sky so clear." She looked back at Oliver, her whole face smiling. "It's so beautiful."

Oliver had never seen Felicity like this, so calm and genuinely happy. Because of what he did and what Felicity helped him do, there hadn't been that many happy moments for Felicity, not as many as she deserved anyway, and seeing her like this now, made Oliver feel bad, as he didn't try enough to give Felicity those light moments, like tonight, as in return for what Felicity contributed to both her work on Queen Consolidated and how irreplaceable her contribution to helping the Arrow. She had been in danger several times and Oliver had been truly worried at least once that she might be seriously harmed, when she had been taken by the Count and he had been surprised how upset he had been and how relieved when she had been fine in the end, after he saved her. He had been forced to kill him but if it meant saving Felicity, he would do it over and over again.

He closed his eyes, being brought to that moment; the feeling of despair as the Count held the syringe filled with Vertigo only inches from her neck, the guilt when he shot the three arrows that killed the Count and knowing he had broken the promise not to kill anymore. He also remembered the relief when seeing that Felicity was safe, how she had been panicking at first but calmed down when hearing his voice.

Felicity noticed on the expression on Oliver's face, that he was far away in his thoughts. He looked troubled, so she knew that he wasn't exactly thinking about happy thoughts, like... kittens and Christmas.

"Oliver...?" She hesitated for a moment, but then put her hand on Oliver's. He flinched at first to her touch and Felicity could feel his whole body getting tense. "Oliver, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm..." Oliver opened his eyes, looking directly at Felicity. "I'm good." He smiled.

"You didn't seem good." Felicity said and Oliver could hear her being worried. He also noticed her hand was still on his. "What were you thinking about? Oliver, you can tell me."

"I was just... Thinking about how enchanting you look tonight and how happy you seem. This is probably happiest I've seen you and..." Oliver said and hesitated. "I can't help but to think that I'm the reason why you're not being like this more often... That since you met me and got in on... what I do, you've only experienced-"

"No, that's not true." Felicity interrupted him, her grip tightening around Oliver's hand. "Oliver, I've never been more satisfied with my life since I met you. I'm perfectly satisfied with helping you and Diggle, trust me." When she saw that Oliver didn't seem to believe her, she moved her hand from his hand to his face, even if it surprised her, she didn't feel uncomfortable doing it. "Oliver, trust me. I'm so thankful that I know you, you've made me learn things about myself I didn't know before, you've certainly made my life more exciting, _a lot _more..." She smiled and let out a small laugh.

Oliver nodded slowly. "I'm glad to know you too, Felicity." He then placed his hand on top of her hand on his face. Then there was only silent, the two of them exchaning glances.


	6. Chapter 5

"**Tell me and I'll forget; Show me and I may remember; Involve me and I'll understand."**

_- Chinese Proverb_

Oliver and Felicity stood silent, looking at eachother, Felicity's hands still embracing Oliver's face and his hand on top of Felicity's.

Felicity didn't even think twice about removing her hands from his face. Somehow, it felt so familiar, so right... She kept looking at Oliver, looking for any sign of hesitation in his eyes – but there was none. She then took a deep breath, letting all her doubts go away at the exhale and moved closer to Oliver. Oliver now looked down on her.

"Felicity..." He whispered, his voice so low she almost didn't hear him.

Felicity didn't answer him, instead she moved her free hand around his neck and moved in closer so that their faces were inches from each other, their lips were almost close to touching. Oliver then moved his hands around Felicity's waist and pulled her closer and Felicity's other hand moved to embrasing his neck. Felicity's heart was pounding and she could feel Oliver's beating harder too.

"Felicity, we shouldn't-"

He didn't get to say anymore, as Felicity pressed her lips against his. At first he was hesitant, but he replied the kiss and with that the kiss got more intense, more passionate. Oliver moved his hands to Felicity's hands, their fingers entwined.

All of a sudden, there were sounds coming inside from the Fairmont and a second later, the door opened and immediately Oliver pulled away from Felicity. He pulled his hands away from her but she didn't let go, so they were still as entwined as before.

"Oliver!" They could hear Laurel's cheerful, intoxicated voice behind them.

Oliver closed his eyes, cursing in his mind, turning around to face Laurel.

"Laurel, hi." He then looked at Felicity, but she didn't face him. Instead she let go of his hands and stepped back. She took his jacket of his shoulders and gave it back to him.

"I'm not cold anymore." She said, her tone of voice trying to hide the hurt she was feeling, but Oliver could sense it, of course.

"Felicity-" He started. She then looked at him, without saying anything but her eyes spoke more than a thousand words and she walked away.

As Felicity walked away, Laurel looked after her, shooting her dirty looks. "Bye!" She said loudly after her, not trying to hide her very much rude tone of voice. She then turned to Oliver. "Ollie, are you avoiding me? You haven't talked to me all evening, you hardly said hello earlier..."

"You're here with a date, aren't you?" Oliver said calmly, trying to keep himself from leaving Laurel there and running after Felicity. "From what I saw from earlier tonight, he didn't enjoy us talking that much."

Laurel shrugged. "Eh, that's only Eddie, don't mind him." She moved in closer to Oliver. "I only took him, so I wouldn't be forced to go to this alone, plus..." She looked at Oliver. "You didn't exactly offer to take me-"

"I already had a date." Oliver said short, interrupting her, which left Laurel stunned. "Speaking of which, I should go looking for her." He then looked at Laurel and smiled quickly. "Take care of youself, Laurel, good night."

He then quickly left the balcony, going inside again, looking for Felicity.

Felicity was so embarrased. What had she been thinking, kissing Oliver like that? Had she lost her mind? She probably had.

"I'm such a fool!" She whispered, feeling the panic growing inside of her, the tears buring behind her eyelids. "Why did I do that?"

She had no idea why she'd kissed him, something had just come over her and she'd done it. She had been surprised at first, yes, but then Oliver had kissed her back and all of these feelings had risen to the surface for Felicity, feelings she hadn't really felt before, or maybe she'd known of them but she hadn't allowed herself to let them rise up, as all of them involved Oliver: Safety, passion, intensity, surprise, longing...

She now hid her face in her hands. Thinking about how Laurel had been very close to walking in on them kissing, how rude she had been against Felicity and how she almost had been throwing herself at Oliver, made Felicity even more embarrased of herself. Laurel was Oliver's first, true love. She had been the one thing that had kept him sane and alive on the island, why would Felicity in her right mind think, that she had a chance? She was just a plain IT-girl. There was no chance in hell that Oliver Queen would choose someone like her and if she believed that, she was crazy.

Felicity now stopped, to look around where she was. She was surprised to see she had walked into a smaller room, it looked like a library of some sort, as 3/4 of the room's walls were filled with book-shelfs. The last wall was instead covered with a large mirror. She walked around the room, looking at the book-shelfs, touching some of the books. Then she walked up to the mirror—covered wall and looked at her reflection. She took a deep breath and in that moment, the tears started to run down her cheeks.

Before she knew it, Felicity collapsed to the floor, letting the tears run freely, as she silently sobbed. She burried her face in her hands again. It was clear to her that this reaction of hers had to do with something else than just kissing Oliver. Because she couldn't be this wrecked about Oliver, could she?

Oliver was looking around for Felicity but he couldn't find her anywhere. He didn't let himself think about what had happened moments before Laurel had interrupted, he only wanted to find Felicity and see that she was allright. Although... the way she had looked at him when giving back his jacket, had told him she was anything but fine. She had in fact looked heartbroken. So Oliver needed to find her, to make everyting all right. Because if there was anything he couldn't bare, it was to lose someone important to him again. He had been very close to losing Felicity once already and he refused to do it again.

As Felicity still sat on the floor in the library-room, still crying, she could all of a sudden feel a pair of hands around her shoulders, pulling her up. She was turned around to face whoever it was pulling her up and who she saw, made her whole body turn to ice. But before she could scream, a white cloth was covering her mouth and everything turned black. The last thing on her mind was '_Oliver_'.


	7. Chapter 6

"**Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay"**

- _Ruth 1:16_

_For Felicity's 14th birthday, all she wanted was a pair of new ice skates. Her current ones were several years old and they were all worn out. It was getting harder and harder to skate with them on the ice, plus she was being teased for their dodgy looks by the other girls who used to skate at the same time. Felicity knew she could be so much better at the figure skating, than she already was. She had been enrolled in a few 'training competitions' and she had done very well._

_One day, about a week before Felicity's birthday, she brought a catalogue with ice skates she'd to show Elena. Felicity had marked out the ice skates that would suit her best and she had also taken the prize in consideration, since she didn't have that much extra in her savings and despite the fact that Elena was working two jobs – her regular work at the hospital as a nurse and the extra job at an hotel – they didn't have that much to live on monthly after all the expenses had been paid. Felicity had been looking for a job too, mainly during the weekends, but no one was hiring a 14-year old and Elena had told her to focus on her studies instead. She did get to baby-sit the neighbours' children from time to time, though, which gave her a little bit to put away._

_Matt sent a sum of money every other month, but that was mainly meant for Felicity's future, so it went to an account that was closed until Felicity's 18th birthday. It had taken a long while for Elena and Matt to get along and agree on issues surrounding Felicity, especially since he had moved to Poland, so Elena didn't want to risk that her ex-husband stopped sending the money at all._

_Elena was sitting at the dining table reading the newspaper, when Felicity walked in, the ice skate broshure being in her back-pack. Elena looked at her. "Hi sweetheart."_

"_Hi mam." Felicity said and smiled back. She put her back-pack beside a chair and sat down. "Anything interesting in the news today?"_

"_Nothing more interesting the usual." Elena smiled. "How was practice?"_

_Felicity didn't know how to answer that, as she hadn't been allowed to train on the ice since her coach, Ms Kinsella, had seen the very poor conditions of her ice skates. She had told Felicity that she couldn't skate with them anymore, that they could damage herself and destroy the ice for other users._

"_I didn't get the chance to skate, it was too crowded already." Felicity said and was about to bring up the subject of getting new skates for her birthday, when Elena all of a sudden said:_

"_How about we get you a new pair for your birthday?"_

_Felicity looked at her, stunned, not knowing what to reply. So instead she rushed up and wrapped her arms around Elena. "Thank you mam! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She then let go, smiling greatly at Elena. "I were actually going to ask you if I could get a pair for my birthday..." She started and picked out the catalogue. "I've marked out a few skates..." She opened it up and pointed them out for Elena, who showed interest by nodding. "It looks good, darling."_

_Felicity looked at her, smiling. "There is a pair I'd _really_ want..." She looked in the catalogue, finding the page with her "dream skates": _The Jackson Fit_. It was the ultimate skates to have, the IT-to-have-brand (the prize was thereafter) and she knew that the other girls would be so jelous at her, especially those who had made fun of her old skates. "Ms Kinsella could probably help with ordering them and getting the perfect fit. They are quite expensive though, so I can pay them myself, I have money saved up and I can ask dad for the rest-" _

"_No, we won't ask anything off your father besides the sum he sends you for your college fund. I got the impression that his new wife wasn't too keen on him sending you money." Elena interrupted and shrugged. "I haven't even met the woman but I dislike her already. She might be his new wife and they might have their own children but he still has to be a father to _you_. If she somehow stops him from sending money, I will bring in the lawyers."_

_Felicity always felt uncomfortable when Elena talked about Matt, his new life in Poland, his new family and the fact that he might not support Felicity as well as he should. There was always hidden resentment in the tone of Elena's voice._

"_I do think she knows that, mom. Besides, it's not like dad has abandonded us completely. He's still coming to visit in the Summer, he sends letters and cards... He hasn't forgotten about us." She smiled and hugged Elena one more time. "Thank you so much for this mom, it will be the best birthday ever!"_

_As Felicity looked through the catalogue with the ice skates, a smile appeared on her face and she started to imagine how bright her future would be, her mom's too. She would get the ice skates for her birthday and she would be able to start skating for real, getting better and better._

_Elena smiled and looked at her daughter, who now was looking through the catalogue with such excitement. Elena loved that about her daughter, she was so full of life and joy, she had the best of faith in everyone... Even in her father, who had walked out on her and now had a new family in Poland._

_There were a lot of issues that Elena had kept from her daughter, things that she never could find out, things about the real reason to why Matt had left, why he didn't write them more often, why Elena hardly spoke about Matt... Elena knew it would break that beautiful girl if the many secrets that were being kept from her ever came out. Elena had done so much in her efforts to protect Felicity and she would continue to do so until the day she died._

Oliver was still searching for Felicity and he was getting worried. He had looked every where and she couldn't be found. He was right now in the ballroom, looking around if he could spot Felicity.

"Felicity, where _are _you?" He thought to himself, started to feel the panic and anger rising inside of him. All of a sudden, he felt a hand on his shoulder and Oliver turned around, only to face Diggle.

"Digg! What are you doing here?" Diggle didn't say anything but his face expression told Oliver everything he needed to know - and it didn't look good. "What's happened, is it...?"

"Not here." Diggle said with a low voice. "Let's go."

Oliver nodded. They then walked outside, leaving the Fairmont Hotel and getting into Diggle's car; the one he used when driving the Queen family around.

"What's going on, Digg?" Oliver asked again. "I can't find Felicity, I've been looking everywhere for her... I should keep looking for her-"

"Something came up on the radar at Verdant." Diggle said and pulled out a tablet. He then gave the tablet to Oliver, showing a profile of a woman. "This is Beatrycze Salomea. She workes at some kind of institution in Warsaw, I couldn't get out a name. She came here with a man, Misha Smolak. He works at the same institution. They came to Starling from Poland a few days ago. Now..."

"I don't understand, what does this has to do with Felicity?" Oliver asked.

Diggle then looked at him, gave him the tablet and Oliver looked at it. It showed another profile, of Misha Smolak. Oliver read it for a moment and then he looked up at Diggle in shock.

"Oh my God. He's... Where are they now?"

"That's the thing, Oliver. There are no traces after them since they landed in Starling, they're off the radar." Diggle said. "Immediatly when I found out who this Misha-guy was, I did everything I could to find them, but it's impossible."

Oliver felt a punch in his heart. Right then and there, he knew that Felicity was in danger and time might be running out for her. They had to find her – quickly.

Felicity's head was pounding and her eyes hurt when she slowly opened them. There was nothing surrounding her but darkness and she had no idea where she was. She tried to move but noticed right away, to her great despair, that both her hands and feet were tied with something sharp. The little she could move, resulted in a sound, which made her think she was chained. She pulled with her feet and she immediatly was restrained by a strong force, making her gasp with pain.

It was damp and cold in the small place where she was. She could feel the tears burning in her eyes, her whole body aching. She slowly started to remember what had happened before she blacked out: her and Oliver on the balcony, she kissing him, Laurel interrupting them and being a total bitch, Felicity running out on Oliver... Finding herself in the library/mirror-room and... The last image she couldn't let herself believe, it was impossible. She remembered the face so clearly, but it couldn't be – could it? The face she had seen... It had been the face of Matt, her father. But it couldn't be, right? What would he be doing back?

Oliver and Diggle were still sitting in the car, trying to process what they've learned just now.

"How can this be?" Diggle asked. "Did you know? I know you did your home work on Felicity before getting involved with her but... Did you know about _this_?"

Oliver shook his head. "I had no idea. I didn't find anything on Felicity's family... She has never mentioned her family either, atleast not to me." The panic started to re-appear again. "We have to find her, as soon as possible."

"They must have security on the hotel, especially for an event like this. I'll go talk with them, see if anything turns up in the security cameras... You go back to Verdant."

"I can't just sit around and wait, Dig..." Oliver said, annoyed. "I have to-"

"Hey. I know you want to get her back safe, so do I." Diggle said, calming him down. "I will do the best I can to see if I find anything, I'll let you know."

Oliver nodded. _I can't lose you Felicity, I can't lose you, please be safe just be safe._ All of a sudden there was a beep in Oliver's phone. Oliver quickly pulled it out, seeing he'd got a message from a hidden number. It simply read:

**Cameron Lake, Glades Mid Islands. Tomorrow 9pm. Come alone or she is dead. We're watching you.**


	8. Chapter 7

"**Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering."**

_- Paulo Coelho  
_

Oliver and Diggle were still doing their best to find Felicity and her taker. Since the gala on the Fairmont still hadn't ended, it was just a bit over midnight, Oliver had still had his part to play, it would look too suspicious if he all of a sudden rushed home, so Diggle was talking with the security and had been granted permission to look through the footage from the survaillance cameras.

"Mr Queen, where has your beautiful date disappeared to?" Oliver got asked often.

"Ms Smoak didn't feel well, so I had my driver take her home." Oliver answered with a smile, trying to keep his calm but it was insanely difficult to do when he knew that Felicity was out there somewhere, alone, in danger... If anything of the things Diggle had found out about Misha Smolak was anywhere near true, Felicity was in a greater danger than Oliver had at first realized.

The text he had recieved earlier was impossible to trace. The one who had sent it had gone through a lot of trouble to keep the identity a secret. The only one who might have a shot at decrypting it, was Felicity and she was... _missing_.

Oliver shrugged. He couldn't think like that, they would find Felicity, he would bring her to safety. But he couldn't help blaming himself for what had happened to her. He should've gone after Felicity the second she had ran out, when Laurel had walked out on the balcony... If he had done that, Felicity might still be here – with him. He then realized something else: _You shouldn't have let you kiss her._ But it had felt _right_ at the time being...

Safety, passion, intensity, surprise, longing – these were all factors, some stronger than others, he felt when being around Felicity. She challanged him in so many ways and she could drive him crazy but... She was also the one who kept him sane, his beacon of light to guide him through the darkness whenever he needed it.

She was the one who had told him he had to find another way to bring in the bad guys of Starling, when he had come back from the island a second time and had insisted he couldn't put on the green hood again if it meant he had to kill, because it would dishonour Tommy's memory. _You have to find another way_, she had told him – and he had. Until the night when the Count had taken her and the only way to save Felicity, was for Oliver to fire those three arrows.

Admitting to himself that Felicity played a bigger role in his life than he at first had thought, was a big step for Oliver. He hadn't after all let himself care for anyone, except Laurel but that was simply because of their past and look how well that had worked out... No, Laurel was a closed chapter, she was his past. Did this mean Felicity was Oliver's future? Oliver didn't know and that wasn't important at the moment. The most important thing, the one thing he had to focus all his energy on now, was to bring Felicity back home safe.

"Oliver." He heard Diggle say behind him, and he turned around.

"Did you find anything?" The frown expression on Diggle's face told Oliver the answer. "What?"

"The security manager told me that they'd deactivated the security cameras for the event tonight. It was a request from the manager, he didn't want to make the guests feel uncomfortable." Diggle told him and sighed. "So there is no chance in hell we can get any clues who took Felicity..."

Oliver felt the anger boiling inside of him and he had to clunch his fists to prevent himself from punching someone or something. "We'll have to find another way then. We have no idea who we're dealing with... If I go to Cameron Lake without any idea of who I will be facing... I'm not willing to risk Felicity for that."

"I get you." Diggle said. "I have a feelings this Misha Smolak has something to do with it, plus, why contact you of all people? He has to know Felicity works for you, so that might mean he has been keeping a watch on her during all these years. Maybe he's expecting to get ransom money or something." He paused. "Could it be that he knows about your, hmm, other self?"

"I have no idea." Oliver said. "The most important thing is that we find Felicity and bring her home safe." He looked at the time. "The gala is soon over, I better go mingle one last lap. Wait for me in the car, I will be out in 20."

Diggle nodded and walked out. Oliver took a deep breath and went to talk with some random people. The whole time he was talking about QC, his co-leadership with Isabel and why these people should invest in the company, he was thinking about Felicity, worrying like sick about her well-being.

There was a loud bang and Felicity's eyes shot wide open. Her head was still pounding and it was now much colder where she was, than it had been before. It was a bit lighter now than before, which meant that it was morning, maybe? She tried to move but her whole body was aching and when trying to move her hands, she noticed they were put up over her head, in chains.

"What the... When did this happen?" She mumbled, closing her eyes again, trying to numb out the pounding in her head. She looked down and noticed that the skirt on her dress was badly torn, all the under layers were ripped to pieces, most of the embroided diamonds were gone and the whole dress was wet and dirty. The Manolo Blahnik 5" heels she was no longer wearing, they were tossed in the corner and one of the heels were broken.

"So much for haute couture..." Felicity mumbled and tried to move her hands' position but they were restrained by the chains. "_Ouch_!"

All of a sudden the door swung open and Felicity flinched with surprise, followed by pain as she moved and the chains around her hands and feet held her back. She turned to face who had opened the door.

"_Cześć, Felicyta_." A woman's voice said. "I see you're awake. You've been out for hours."

"Who are you?" Felicity mumbled. "Why am I here? Who brought me here?"

"Enough with the Q&A." The woman said. "Just know that if you behave like the good girl Ive heard you are, you will live. I might also tell you who I am and what the point of keeping you here is."

Felicity might not know who the woman was, but she knew for a fact that Matt was invovled. "What does Matt Forwood has to do with this?" When she said this, she could see the woman frown. "So he _is_ involved? You do know that he is my father, that he abandoned me and my mother when I was 7. He hasn't been back to Starling since I was 13 and I haven't heard a word from him since I were 15. He didn't even call me when my mother died. Now all of a sudden he's back and he decides to kidnap me... At the most luxurious event of the year, I might add. Anyone could put the pieces together and figure that out."

"Shut up!" The woman angrily said. She then gave Felicity the evil eye, mumbled something in what Felicity guessed was Polish and shut the door shut again.

Felicity smiled to herself, she had pushed the woman's buttons. But she was also worried, what did all of this mean? What did her father want with her, she had nothing to give him and she had no intensions at all of getting to know him again. Then again...

What if Matt being back didn't had anything to do with him wanting to get to know Felicity, what if it had to do with something else? What if she was only a part of the puzzle to get what he really wanted? Then it came to her, like a flash of lightninng... Matt was using her as a bait to get to what or _who_ – he wanted.

**Oliver.**


	9. Chapter 8

"**When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something." **

-_ Dmitri Shostakovich_

Felicity felt the panic rise inside of her. Matt was back because he wanted something from Oliver and somehow Matt had found out that Felicity was working for Oliver. That was the reason why he had taken her, Matt was probably hoping that Oliver would come to save her and then...

She closed her eyes, trying to shake the worrying feeling. She didn't know who her father was anymore - _she didn't even see him as her father anymore_. From the short moment Felicity had seen him at the moment when she had been taken from the Fairmont, it had been a stranger standing in front of her, his eyes lifeless. The man she remembered from her childhood as the loving and caring man she had once upon a time called dad, was gone. What she didn't understand though, what was Matt could possibly want with Oliver? It didn't make sense.

Oliver was probably doing all he could, with help from Diggle, trying to find out where she was. That Felicity was sure of. Where ever she was... She didn't have a clue about her whereabouts, since she seemed to be in some kind of bunker or cell and it didn't have any windows. It was still damp and quite cold, even if it was lighter now then it had been when she first waked up.

"You will find me Oliver, I know you will..." She thought to herself. "I only hope you won't get hurt in the process."

All of a sudden, Felicity's head started pounding again, shots of pain going through her whole body and she started to feel cold. Her vision got blurry and her whole body started to go limp and numb. It took a moment but soon she faded into darkness again.

As with everything, Matt had survaillance on the small cell where he had placed Felicity. She had been in and out of consciousness after the drug he had given her at the abduction site. He had also let an amount of an anestethic drug be inserted every 30 minutes into the cell via the bricks the cell were built off. He had gone through all of this to make sure Felicity wouldn't remember she'd seen him, but she had been perfectly awake when Ksenia had gone to check on her and it had been made clear then that she knew that her father – Matt – was the one who'd kidnapped her.

Ksenia was still furious. "I can't believe how that little _pizda_ talked to me! She was perfectly aware that it was you who took her, Misha, so now what?!"

"Language, my dear... Please." Matt tried to calm her down. "Calm down, Ksenia, will you?" He said. "Thanks to the amounts of _Talwin_ that is being inserted into the cell every 30 minutes, Felicity will slowly be sedated. I'll increase the dose in a few hours so that when she's completly under the anaesthetic, and we can move her to Cameron Lake." Matt gave Ksenia an ensuring look. "It's a strong drug, Ksenia, you don't wake up just like that."

"What if the drug isn't strong _enough_? What if she wakes up while being moved and she figures everything out..." Ksenia said but was interrupted by Matt:

"She won't." He assured. "I know what I'm doing, Ksenia, this is my area of expertice after all." He paused. "And you know what to do if-"

"She is a very smart woman, Misha! What if she gets a message to Queen about where we are!" Ksenia shouted, getting more and more anxious. "We're risking a lot with this operation of yours. If we fail, we're all dead!"

"Ksenia!" Matt growled. "Stop acting like this! If I say we'll be successful, we will be _successful_." He looked at Ksenia, bringing her closer in an emrace, touching her face. "_Moje kochanie_... _Wszystko będzie dobrze_. _Zaufaj mi_." Ksenia nodded and looked at him for a moment, before pressing her lips against his and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Matt pushed her against the wall, lifted her up so that she was only balancing on her toes. Ksenia pushed her hips against Matt's, moaning against his neck. Matt took a deep breath and pulled back, releasing his grip from Ksenia. "Ksenia... We can't..." He sighed. "I have to think about... Rebekah and the kids..."

Ksenia looked at him. "Really? So _now_ you take your family in consideration?" She let go of him. "This didn't seem to be a problem _five years ago_ in Kybartai." She looked away as Matt touched her face and she shook his hand off. "Your wife, your _pregnant_ wife, was at home alone with four small children but you still thought it was more important to be in Kybartai. _With me_. When we were in Paris, you didn't care that Amelia was ill in hospital, that Rebekah was worried sick..."

"That's enough." Matt said and turned his back to her, adjusting his tie and jacket.

"No! I'm not done!" Ksenia said with a loud tone of voice. "You say you have to think about your family, when you've never done so in the past! The truth is, your children don't even know you! Mateusz, Amelia, Julia, Dawid, Jakub... These are five children who don't know who their father is. You speak like you're a family man, acting like you care when the simple truth is... _you don't_."

"I said, that's enough!" Matt growled. "You have no right to speak about my family, Ksenia. You don't know them. So _enough_." He looked at his watch. "Go check on Felicity, the latest dose of _Talwin_ should've been inserted by now. Take her vitals as well, I don't want her to get an overdose."

Ksenia nodded, taking deep breaths and straighting out the wrinkles in her skirt and blouse. "Right away." She then turn around and walked away, her high heels clinking against the floor.

Matt sighed and took his phone to dial. "It's me. We'll be leaving for Cameron Lake at 6pm. Be ready." He listened back and then hung up the phone. He turned his attention to the surveillance over the cell.

Oliver hadn't slept very well – he had been worrying about Felicity - but he still went to the QC office. Diggle kept sending him updates about Felicity's whereabouts but his searches didn't get them far. It looked no better that Oliver had to get to Glades Mid Islands and see what would happen from there.

Isabel called at midday to ask about how many investors he got at the event at Fairmont and when Oliver told her he hadn't got direct confirmation from anyone but some had shown interest and Oliver had then invited them to a meeting once Isabel had returned from Shanghai.

"I'm impressed, Mr Queen." Isabel had said. "You've actually showed interest, you've come a long way since the first time I met you."

"It's my duty to keep this company going, I owe it to my family." Oliver had told Isabel and they then had continued their conversation a little while longer: Isabel's visit at the QC headquarters in Shanghai had been successful, they had offered to help out in any way possible and now Isabel would continue to the office in Sydney and then continue to Europe, where QC had offices in Moscow, Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris and Dublin with the head quarters being in Helsinki. Isabel would visit the head quarters and the offices in Copenhagen, Berlin and Dublin. Isabel had then offered Oliver to come join her, as it would be better for the two of them to be there and show "an united front".

"That sounds good, Isabel but things at the office are very busy and stressful at the moment..." Oliver had told a white lie but he couldn't very well tell Isabel he had to decline her offer so that he could find Felicity who'd been kidnapped.

Isabel already thought that he had employed Felicity as his assistant because they had a relationship, so she wasn't Felicity's biggest fan. And the feelings were mutual, from the mood Felicity was in most of the time after being forced to interract with Isabel.

"Well, next time then." Isabel had said and they had shortly after that ended their discussion.

All of a sudden, Oliver's sister Thea came rushing through the doors to Oliver's office. "Oliver!"

Oliver looked up, shocked to see his sister at QC as she had more or less taken distance from the whole company. "Thea? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"What exactly happened at Fairmont last night?" Thea asked. She paused, picking something out of her bag. "I bought every magazine I could find, I guessed you hadn't seen it, otherwise you wouldn't be so calm..." She came over to his desk and put the stack of magazines down. "Take a look at these. Mom already saw them and... She's not happy, Ollie. I had to convince her that-"

"Thea, _what are you talking about_?" Oliver interrupted her.

Thea glanced at him. "You should really keep up with the... gossip, Ollie." She gave him a magazine. "Page... Well, the cover is a good start."

Oliver looked at her, shaking his head in sigh and then turning his attention to the magazine Thea had handed him, _The Starling Paley_, the ultimate magazine to turn to if you wanted to read the most outrageous gossip stories about the celebrities in Starling. Oliver couldn't even count the number of times he had been features in the magazine but he did know that the majority of the stories about him were false and the very few ones that maybe had some accuracy, were so twisted around that there was not much to call truth in them.

"_The Paley_, Thea? **Really**?" Oliver said and looked at her, giving her a look. "You should know that it's not the first magazine I would choose..." He looked down on the magazine again and froze. There was a photo collage on the cover, of him and Felicity – including a photo of them kissing on the balcony (it was quite blurry so for an untrained eye it might be hard to see but Oliver knew) – with the headline "**Billionare Beau Queen's new Love Interest! **_We have the scoop!_"

Ksenia knew she had no right to bring up Misha's family and his children especially, they had nothing to do with this. But when he had declined their _moment_ and tried to use his family as an excuse, she had exploded and... everything, espeically Ksenia's personal feelings, had gone out of hand.

Ksenia had been basically living by Misha's side for the past six years, so she barely remembered her life before that. This was mainly thanks to that she had got involved with Misha so quickly and everything had gone so fast. Even if Ksenia knew it was not in her better judgement to get involved, she was partly to blame as well; she had fallen for Misha the second she had met him and she had flirted with him on a daily basis. Sometimes she had come to her seneses about it all, she knew that he was happily married and had children, but it hadn't mattered how much she tried to forget about Misha... Because by that time, Misha himself had got her eyes on her and it became harder and harder for Ksenia to resists his good looks and charm. And so the D-day came when Misha brought Ksenia on a mission to Kybartai...

Once they had been alone in that small cottage in Kybartai (Lithuania) where they stayed, she couldn't fight it, seeing the desire burn in Misha's eyes, telling her he wanted her as badly as she wanted him. It had been one of the most passionate nights of her life and after that day, Ksenia had been _his_.

Despite what her common sense told her, Ksenia had quickly fallen head over heels in love with Misha. Even with the knowledge that she would never be anything more than a mistress to Misha, he would stay faithful to his family. Ksenia didn't care, she was happy being _the other woman _and she made sure Misha didn't forget their romantic encounters. Nevertheless had she been forced to pay for her decision to firstly become Misha's mistress and second working for him and the company. She had been forced to give up so much, including leaving her past life behind. But Ksenia loved Misha, despite the fact that he didn't treat her that great sometimes, he didn't take her feelings in consideration, not to mention all the consequences that had appeared from her interraction with Misha... Consequences she would have to live with for the rest of her life...

Ksenia sighed, walking into the unit where the cells were. Before opening the door to the cell where Felicity was kept, she took up her phone and looked at a few photos. Tears appeared in her eyes as she saw the smiling faces of her daughters: Anamarija and Klara, four and two years old. They were living with a family in Slovenia, who believed Ksenia was the girls' aunt and therefor she got occasional updates. These two little girls were the greatest consequence of all that Ksenia had to pay. They were the result of her involvment with Misha, Anamarija and Klara were her and Misha's daughters. Misha didn't know, Ksenia had been very good with hiding it and she would make sure he would never find out.

She opened the door to the cell where Felicity was. Felicity seemed to be out of it still, so Ksenia stepped in and started taking Felicity's vitals. Her heart rate and pulse seemed a bit low, so Ksenia wrote them down and took notes to tell Misha to hold the next dose of _Talwin_.

Oliver couldn't belive that he and Felicity were all over the Starling media. It was not only the magazines, it was all over the TV News and Thea was not too happy with the situation either. "I know you were there as a representive for the company and that Felicity was with you but... Ollie..." Thea started.

"I'm not having this discussion with you Thea." Oliver firmly said. "I don't have time either, I'm busy."

"I'm not to keen to have it either, Ollie, but rather me than mam. _Trust me_." Thea said. "Listen... I don't have any problems with you and Felicity... If you were..."

"_Thea_!" Oliver said and got up from his desk. "I'm not having this discussion. You have to go, I'm busy." At the same time, Diggle walked into the office. "Diggle, hi. I'll be with you in a moment." Oliver turned to Thea again. "I'm sorry, Thea, but you have to go. I'm heading out for a meeting."

Thea nodded, picked the magazines from the desk and put them back in the bag. "I'll see you at home. Bye Ollie." When she passed Diggle, she smiled and Diggle greeted her with "Ms Queen."

Oliver sat down again at his desk and sighed. "I take it you've seen the news. It's a mess. Not only is Felicity missing... No, I won't even go there."

"Aren't you used to the tabloid writing crap about you? Why are you so...?" He got silent when he saw the look on Oliver's face. "Ah, you're worried about what Felicity will think."

"Yeah... If we ever get her back..." Oliver sighed.

"Don't think like that man, we'll get her back. Anyways, we better get going if you want to make your... _meeting_ tonight."

"Yeah. Yeah, let's go."


End file.
